What’s your story: Eva Thorne
The stories behind climate tech founders
This year, we’re launching a new series of posts profiling founders of Climate Connection’s tech community, asking them to share their journeys, inspirations, and insights into how they got to where they are today.
Today, we’re sharing the story of Eva Thorne, the co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Lagos Carbon.
Here’s her story.
How did your career begin?
I have a doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in political science and started my career as a professor. I taught courses on Latin American politics, democracy, sustainable development, and social movements in Latin America. I left academia because I’m more suited to hands-on work. I became an advisor to companies and governments on natural resource management) Then I spent 9 years in different positions in former UK Prime Minister Tony Blairs organisations - Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative, Tony Blair Associates, and the Institute for Global Change. All involved advising at the top of government. Finally, I was a partner at a small sustainability consultancy.
How did you convince the current Lagos government to back something you openly describe as 'built to survive an election'?
Credit goes to my co-founder and Lagos Carbon CEO, Ibukun Adebayo. It was about: identifying the right government partners, which took some time; building trust with them over time; educating them about carbon markets and how they align with government priorities; structuring the partnership with clear roles and responsibilities; and negotiating every clause. The hardest part was probably the negotiations. We had support from the current Governor of Lagos State and are speaking to the gubernatorial candidates. It’s about smart contracts and smart relationships.
What have been the toughest challenges along the way?
Funding is challenging for most founders. We have managed to secure some support and of course, need more funding! Challenges surface once you start executing your plans. For example, we made assumptions about energy output from our pilot hospitals, which were wrong. We are now screening for large solar energy use. We underestimated how many data collection boxes we would need as larger facilities need more than one box. That’s an extra cost! We have also learned as we go about how to present the credits generated on our platform to buyers, as there are different types of buyers. We are learning to tailor our pitch. These are all surmountable.
Have you ever felt like giving up?
No, not yet! I have been involved in a number of startups where I have felt like giving up - often. What makes Lagos Carbon different is that we are involved in building a market for which there is extraordinary pent-up demand. Lagos is a state full of what had been tantamount to stranded assets until our platform came along. Pitching this to project owners and project developers has not been that difficult as the benefits are so obvious. That makes it much easier to keep going when things are challenging.
What has kept you going?
In addition to the incredible opportunity to produce both sustainability impact and investor returns, I have a great co-founder, Ibukun. We know each other from another business and I had the chance to see him in action. He’s a man of great intellect and more importantly, great integrity. He’s easy to work with. We share the highs and the lows and somehow manage to laugh along the way. Also, I love working in Africa so it’s a joy to get to know Nigeria.
What advice would you give to anyone else looking to build a climate tech startup today?
Make sure you stress test your idea with people beyond friends and family, who are primed to be positive. Find critics and skeptics to give you unvarnished feedback. You need that before investing. The second piece of advice is to just start. Don’t wait. You want to get market feedback as fast as you can.
Can you tell us a story about how this community or an unexpected connection helped propel you to where you are now?
I can thank Climate Connection for an unexpected connection that could be helpful. I was sitting in the lobby of The Conduit waiting for the room to open. A young man sat next to me and said, “Hi.” I assumed that he was there for the Climate Connection event but he wasn’t. He was there to tour the club. I offered him a piece of chocolate, which he accepted. As it turns out, he works at an investment fund that works on climate and he is interested in Nigeria! Let’s see what happens but it was definitely serendipitous!
So there’s a glimpse into one of the founders of our Climate Connection community – a community built around the strategic magic of connection and intentional networking.
Interested in seeing yourself or another founder onstage?
We’re always looking for new startups and scale-ups to tell amazing stories. You can fill out our speaker nomination form here.
